Formed in 2011, Brissy indie rock five piece Shag Rock have just dropped their attention grabbing killer new self-titled mini LP.
Having been cutting their teeth playing local gigs around their native city of Brisvegas, the guys were recently signed to indie label run by Powderfinger’s Ian Haug – Airlock Records, which released the mini LP.
Given their love and support from legends like it’s pretty clear these guys are onto something good. To celebrate the release of the LP, the band have given us a track by track run down of this exciting release. Check it out below and pop by the band’s Facebook for more info.
Champagne
This was written over the course of a couple of months in the middle of winter 2014. It was a time when it felt like every day was incredibly stagnant and repetitive. Every day we would wake up and go to uni, study in the stuffy libraries where one in three people were coughing or sniffing. We’d get home and I’d go skateboarding at a hill over near my house, I started to notice that nearly every day was cloudless.
It became a thing between our mates to text each other each day if the weather was as good as the day before. For six weeks in a row it was cloudless days. Despite this glorious weather day in day out, it felt like everyone was still stuck in their usual routines, aiming headlong into their one goal of having a job and being a good student. It made me think of the attitude that a lot of people possess just because everyone around them has that same attitude.
How they just never really consider what it is to be interested and aware of how much else goes on in the world. The running picking pattern in the chords seemed appropriate, and the lyrics came in short bursts. When they were written I aimed at being descriptive and trying to take myself somewhere else through them. I played it to Reedy and he quickly added the intro guitar part. We said that it should sound like light rain and be not so structured or have a powerful presence. In the end I think his guitar part really made the song what it is. Thank god for Jacob.
Heartwood
Born deep into the Sunshine Coast mountain hinterland, Heartwood represents two worlds coming together to create the sing along anthem of Shag Rock’s debut mini album. The riff was first layed down on an acoustic whilst camping in the pristine, isolated world to which the song is named after.
Heartwood, a mate’s farm inland from the sunshine coast, where the band escaped to from the bussling city, was a definitive inspiration for this song and is represented in the songs simple introduction.
The salt of the earth origins of Heartwood were then turned on their head when they reached civilisation, electric guitars, and the studio polish of producers. What once was a simple four bar acoustic riff transformed into a defining, lung bursting anthem which showed how far you could push genuine folk inspiration into the rock n roll world without losing the spirit and soul of the song’s origins.
Deep Froth
Not to be confused with an extra creamy cappuccino with extra chocolate, Deep Froth is a tranquilising pop track with a melody that flows like honey. The song’s musical theme was born from Shag Rock’s constant desire to be frothing at the mouth for every experience they have.
The intentionally repetitive chorus line “Love in December, it gives me deep froth baby, something to remember, you’ll feel the deep froth baby,” sticks in your head and emulates the retrospective outlook of love that turns like the seasons. However, whilst seemingly placing a month as the memorable moment of infatuation, it is more a song about capturing the present, extracting the love for life in the most genuine way; leaving alcohol, materialistic possessions and any other pseudo intoxicating things behind. This happy- go –lucky attitude infects the song’s dance inspired up-beat chorus as well as the chilled out, contrasting verse.
Derived from two separate, off the cuff band jams, Deep Froth’s deceptively simple arrangement represents the genuine nature of Shag Rock’s, plug in, turn on, no bullshit live sound. With the two song ideas smashed together in a stroke of communal genius (or fluke) from Shag Rock, Deep Froth was then smoothed at the edges by constant practise room evolution as well as some simple studio tweaks into the dancefloor filler it is now. Deep Froth is a throwback to simpler times and is a tight display of how a contrasting verse and chorus can create a roller-coaster ride of experiences
Stacey
Being the earliest song on the album to be written and played live, Stacey encapsulates the bands youthful energy as Shag Rock were only just entering adulthood when this song was conceptualized. First played live at an off chops house party which featured 15 cases of beer, two broken windows, three ambulances, 20 maxi taxis and one strong dose of PTSD for one poor host mother (sorry Margaret), Stacey found its home as a party starter classic.
The simple lyrics about, sex, alcohol, lust, rejection, or pretty much everything that the Christian’s and awkward sex ed classes at school disapproved of, drive this song’s relatability and catchiness. The song’s title and chorus was born genuinely out of the search for the best girl’s name to scream at the top of your lungs whilst lying in a bush/gutter/police car’s back seat at 2AM, 20 standard drinks into a good night out.
With a bouncy and punchy main riff and a definitive sing (scream)-a-long chorus, Stacey is the perfect relatable party song for Shag Rock’s target audience, which consists of anyone under the age of 23 that has no idea what day of the week it is and prioritises good times over any academic endeavours they might aspire to.
Bring the Rain
Bring the Rain was originally written to basically brand a classy rough edge to an inspirational song.
But it’s really more a song about predicting the future paths of some of our mates where they may get caught up in the corporate ‘cash money’ life, and I’m just writing to tell them that no matter how hectic it gets, no matter how much dough they’re chasing from 9 till 5, there’s always time for the world outside those office walls.
Just shred a few papers, let go of the stress and dance in the rain. It turned into a punchy indie rock belter which hopefully gets people off their feet and doing something good. That’s the goal ey
Ides of March
From the heart for the heart, ‘Ides of March’ is one of those songs that casts a line out hoping for people to grab it and connect. Written for and about my grandfather it was meant as somewhat of a testimony to him as a man.
As one of the most inspirational figures I know, he has taught me how to set your eyes wide and instead of dwelling on harsh memories, bringing them with you on your trek and extracting the beauty.
Basically the chorus and the title means the days of stressing about little things that are out of your control are not existent, so get together with family and friends and make the most of it. Aly sung it at his own grandfather Blair’s funeral and it connected with everyone in the room; a song that now has immense gravity whenever we play it. It’s bittersweet so it’s one for a lazy retrospective Sunday with a hot mug of tea.
Cold Hands
This song was written in what I would consider the most 50/50 way possible. Jacob showed Alex a new type of chords.
Alex wrote an intro progression and a verse. Alex and Jacob wrote the chorus together. Jacob then wrote the second verse. We then collated on a bridge. Together we wrote Cold Hands. It’s not a hugely deep song, it’s about appreciating people and the times we have with one another. It’s about a loss of love and the rebirth of love.
But between all this, represented by the Chorus’, there’s a sun that sets and rises again every day and you can only do what you can do. D33p…
Good Times
Initially written as an acoustic, it took on band form when we felt like we should write a song with an infectious reggae beat. Cavo (bass), took up a riff pretty quickly and it became the baseline of the verse, and with already written lyrics the verse came together very quickly.
After some serious deliberation we decided on a straight beat for the chorus to change up the chilled out verses. The chorus lyrics came from the outro of the acoustic with all f words removed, so that our PG fans weren’t left out. With no deeply profound song structure, it has a place in Shag Rock’s heart, and like almost every other song is written in lieu of good mates and even better times.
